Psychological Ideas Research Articles

A quest for global psychology

In this article we discuss the decolonisation of psychology by constructing a project that is open to diversity and transdisciplinarity, rather than providing hyper-fragmented technical knowledge. In the iconic Manifesto antropófago (1928), the poet Oswald de Andrade (1890–1954) claimed the original and creative capability of Brazilian modernist culture to elaborate in original ways the European, Indio and African heritage. We discuss the anthropophagic metaphor to elaborate on human phenomena that take place in “arenas” where complementary and (often) opposing views are at stake; where the people make their own personal synthesis through coordinated “processes of creating, managing, demolishing and rebuilding” meanings about themselves and the world. Research cannot be reduced to a competition between views that strive to prevail and occupy academic niches. Instead, it should be aimed at being a collective effort of understanding through dialogue.An innovative epistemology shall not reject any emerging idea because it belongs to a different “species” or “perspective”. It is not hegemonic, rather, it is open to the construction of knowledge through dialogue and complementarity of views. The idea of Anthropophagic Psychology rejects a “monological” epistemology and instead allows for the development of a polyphonic psychology, an arena, i.e. a local ecosystem, where the polyphony of perspectives can lead to a rich epistemic orchestration.

The Prodigious Indian Vedic Concepts of Psyche or Mind; a New-fashioned Directive of Mental Health Science to Deal with Labyrinthine Clinical Cases by Amalgamating Indian Psychological Concepts and Principles

Purpose: The bulk of psychology practice in India as well as in other parts of the world is influenced by western ideas of psychological health and illness. The importance of theology, civilization, and eastern philosophy, together with healthcare, has been largely disregarded by these prominent psychological ideas throughout the last few years or more. They were also developed predominantly for those having an internal control center. To understand what Indian beliefs could give to psychology, one must understand the old Indian frameworks, or put it differently, the grand Hinduism and its huge repository of intellectual information. In this paper, we mainly examine how Hinduism, Indian traditions, and conventional Indian healthcare methods are applied to research the psyche and psychological well-being. Objective: This article's main goal is to provide details on psychology as a field from an Indian perspective. These are some of the topics discussed in this study, along with what the aspects of the mind are and what the Indian classics have to say about psychology from a scientific perspective. Design/Methodology/Approach: Secondary information that was obtained from a variety of reliable and trustworthy publications and websites was used to write this work. To increase the accuracy and authenticity of this document, the data was carefully and scientifically examined by making references to a number of different publications and subtopics. The data was acquired from a variety of trustworthy and respectable sources, including Academia and Google Scholar. Cross-referencing all the data from websites like Academia, Google Scholar, and others revealed that there wasn't a lot of material from different points of view that were included. Findings/Result: Here, a chance has been taken to succinctly synthesize the core principles of the many schools of Indian thought as they relate to understanding human character and behavioral patterns. The aforementioned makes obvious the enormous amount of understanding and knowledge that is a natural component of Indian theories, which has much more to offer psychology students. The significant therapeutic advantages that each way of thinking autonomously provides are very promising for those who provide psychological treatment. Because of this, Indian psychologists should be adaptable to infusing Indian concepts into our therapy, despite our training in contemporary Western psychological institutions. We must objectively assess the significance of our centuries-old beliefs, especially those related to yoga, meditation, and Indian forms of psychoanalysis and psychotherapies, in order to validate them as well as prevent labeling them as relics of third-world mysticism. Originality and value: To make this work relevant and palatable to the entire society, independent of one's educational level and career, an innovative and readily accessible complete methodology, and explanation have been developed. The primary goal of this study is to educate the public about certain well-known psychological and other mental health principles found in the Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda), as well as the great Indian epics and their relevance to the present and the future. Paper Type: Clinical/health analysis paper

Позитивная организационная психология: обзор зарубежных исследований (ценное прошлое, актуальное настоящее и возможное будущее)

Introduction. The article is a review of foreign studies carried out in line with positive organizational psychology - a field of interdisciplinary scientific knowledge whose purpose is to study the factors that lead a person and an organization to prosperity. The article identifies the key thema tic blocks included in the semantic field of modern positive organizational psychology. Theoretical analysis. The theoretical review shows that over the past ten years, in accordance with the ever-increasing demand for empirically proven principles for developing and implementing positive psychological interventions in organizations, there has also been a rapid increase in the number of research projects devoted to this issue, which make a certain contribution to the development of existing theoretical models and further evolution of the ideas of positive organizational psychology. Meanwhile, the results of the theoretical analysis showed that in foreign interdisciplinary research there is still room for discussions between supporters and opponents of using positive lenses wih the aim to focus and solve certain organizational problems. Сonclusion. The article makes a conclusion about the practical significance of attracting domestic organizational psychologists’ attention to the study of the positive aspects of the functioning of both the organization itself and the person in the context of the organization.

The Gestation of German Biology: Philosophy and Physiology from Stahl to Schelling

From Leibniz and Georg Ernst Stahl to Albrecht von Haller, Germans of the eighteenth century calved off an experimental physiology from medicine and made this research a centerpiece of their new model university, first under Haller at Göttingen, then under von Humboldt at Berlin. Haller made Göttingen the most important center for the advancement of Enlightenment science in Germany, but that is not where Johann Herder went looking for new ideas in psychology, turning instead to France, avidly studying Condillac and Diderot, and meeting the latter in Paris in 1769. Herder wanted to use French psychology in his theory of how the history of art recapitulates the development of the senses. To work out his ideas he found it necessary to ignore Kant's careful distinction between life and matter. Kant made life an inexplicable boundary for mechanical explanation, though with Herder it became the key concept for interpreting nature. That all the forces in the physical world are held to express one organizing, integrating vital principle is what excited Goethe about Herder's work and provoked the Naturphilosophie that Schelling invented at this time in close collaboration with Goethe.

APPLICATION OF EMOTION COMPUTING BASED ON EMOTION REGULATION COMBINED WITH EDGE COMPUTING IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLATFORM

BackgroundWith the development of mobile Internet and intelligent Internet of things, more and more new generation information technologies are applied in the field of emergency management. At present, the traditional cloud computing architecture can no longer meet the dynamic and real-time computing needs in these scenarios. As a new computing architecture, edge computing and affective computing achieve the sinking of computing power through computing unloading. The development of affective computing depends on the research of human intelligence and emotion in cognitive psychology, which endows computers with the same emotional ability as humans. On the emergency management platform, emotional computing and edge computing are used to build the emotional model of emergency management, decompose, unload and migrate the computing tasks to the edge, and improve the service quality of emergency services.Subjects and MethodsFirstly, based on the idea of combining peacetime and wartime and cognitive psychology, this paper constructs emergency management emotion calculation and edge calculation models for different emergency management scenarios, including conventional emergency management emotion calculation joint edge calculation model and wartime emergency management emotion calculation joint edge calculation model. By using cognitive psychology models of different emergency scenarios, the cognitive psychology model is integrated into the process of edge computing unloading and scheduling. It corresponds to the problem of computing unloading and resource allocation in case of no emergency (peacetime), and the problem of computing unloading and resource allocation in case of emergency (wartime). Secondly, for different emergency management scenarios, based on convex optimization and fireworks algorithm, an improved fireworks algorithm based on convex optimization is proposed to form the unloading optimization strategy of emergency management mobile edge computing in different scenarios. Under the single task delay constraint, the unloading optimization strategy takes the minimum total delay of the system as the performance index. The fireworks algorithm is used to optimize the terminal task unloading decision. After determining the unloading decision, the allocation of computing resources is obtained through convex optimization. Finally, the simulation results show that the computational unloading optimization strategy can effectively reduce the total delay of the system. In order to verify the effectiveness of the emotional model, this study uses the emotional relationship scale, which was compiled by Professor Cao Hualiang in 1999. It includes 28 items and four dimensions (emotional conversation, emotional communication and making friends, dealing with people, heterosexual communication), and each dimension has 7 questions. The scale belongs to self-report scale, which answers “right” or “wrong” according to their actual situation, and evaluates individual interpersonal relationship according to the score. It has good reliability and validity, and has been widely used in domestic interpersonal relationship research. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale in this study is 0.854.ResultsBased on the emotional computing combined with edge computing emergency management unloading network model, taking the maximum processing delay allowed for each computing task as the constraint condition, an optimization strategy of emergency management edge computing unloading was proposed. By introducing convex optimization based on fireworks algorithm, the unloading optimization strategy of co-fwa is established. In order to minimize the total delay of the whole network, the improved fireworks algorithm is used to solve the established model, and the computational unloading decision and resource allocation scheme are obtained. Simulation results show that the algorithm can effectively reduce the total task delay of the network system under the constraint of ensuring the maximum calculation delay of a single task.ConclusionBased on the idea of cognitive psychology and the combination of peace and war, this paper expounds that the emergency management system should be divided into peacetime system and wartime system, designs different emergency management mobile edge computing unloading network models and wartime emergency management mobile edge computing unloading network models, and puts forward the optimization strategy of emergency management mobile edge computing unloading based on the combination of emotional computing and edge computing, Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed computational offload optimization strategy is verified by simulation experiments. However, in this study, only the delay element under the edge computing network architecture is considered, but in practical application, the edge computing server and terminal equipment will also be limited by cost and energy consumption. Therefore, in the future research, the cost and energy consumption of the system will be further considered under the current research framework.AcknowledgementsSupported by a project grant from Shenyang Science and technology plan (Grant No.21-108-9-15) and Supported by a project grant from Liaoning University excellent talents support plan (Grant No.2020).

Роль научного наследия С. Л. Франка в развитии психологического человекознания

The relevance of this article is determined by the need for a scientific study of the psychological aspects of the spiritual and moral sphere of human existence against the background of the multifaceted crisis of modern civilization. The isolation of the psychological aspect in human consciousness is decided through an appeal to the domestic philosophical and psychological tradition of the pre-revolutionary period. In particular, the philosophical and psychological heritage of S.L. Frank, who was not only an outstanding Christian philosopher, but also a psychologist, is being considered. Frank's study of psychological ideas relies on the history of psychology and on the psychology of the spiritual and moral sphere of human existence. In particular, the following is considered a) the influence of Frank's scientific heritage on the "psychology of gnoseology", his contribution to b) human macrodescription; in this regard, the concepts of "soul", "mental life", "love", "consciousness", "personality" and "psychological health" are considered), and c) understanding the spiritual foundations of social life. Parallels are drawn with the understanding of other scientists of these and other psychological categories. The key theoretical and methodological provisions of Frank's creative heritage, which are important for the development of psychological science, are emphasized. The relevance of Frank's philosophical and psychological heritage is justified in the light of information and psychological psycho-manipulatory influences on a modern man. The special significance of Frank's legacy is emphasized for the development of a holistic approach to human psychology. Frank's philosophical reflections are compared with modern psychological ideas about the structure and development of the personality, about the spiritual and moral foundation of social relations. The importance of revealing the spiritual and moral foundations of interpersonal relations is emphasized. The starting point of the concept is the idea of the rootedness of human existence in God. The ways of subsequent research of the philosophical and psychological heritage of S.L Frank are outlined.

Міфоаналітична трансформація лідерства у сучасному світі: соціологічний підхід Ж. Дюрана

The mythoanalytical transformation of leadership in the context of modern concepts is analysed. The development of Ukrainian society is undergoing constant changes that require new leaders who can ensure constructive change. In the field of public administration, special attention needs to be paid to the issue of leadership, which is related to the generation of innovations and their implementation, resource issues of self-organisation. The theoretical foundations of leadership are considered, considering the main archetypal theories. The typology of M. Weber’s leadership is revealed based on the sense of social approval and expressed trust and reveals the following leadership legitimacy: traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal. The key differences between the concepts of “leader” and “manager” are highlighted. O. Neuberger’s typology of archetypal patterns of leadership is outlined, and their timeless, structural manifestations and determinants of interactions are revealed. Possibilities of applying the basic ideas of Durand’s sociology in modern concepts of leadership through the representation of symbolic structures that create meaning, structuring the basic guidelines of experience and actions, depending on individual interpretive abilities and continuous exchange between man and culture, demonstrating powerful psychoenergetic potential. The possibility of using a sociological approach to outline the determinants of leadership activity is substantiated. This approach is based on the ideas of psychoanalysis, deep psychology, structural and political anthropology, phenomenology, and ethology. It is noted that the fundamental concept of Durand’s theory of imagination is the imaginary. Peculiarities in applying mythoanalysis to public administration in the context of transformational leadership are considered. Leadership’s cognitive and emotional assets are considered to substantiate modern leaders’ innovation and self-realisation potential. Features of the mythocritical and mythoanalytical method of G. Durand are presented.

The Development of Psychological Ideas in Sufi sm: Application of Rumi’s Heritage in Psychological Consulting and Therapy in Turkey

The article discusses the issues on how Sufi sm can be related to modern Psychology, in particular, and on how the ideas of Jalaluddin Rumi are integrated into the psychological knowledge in modern Turkey and on how his works are applied in psychological counseling by modern Turkish psychologists. The article analyzes the main methods of applying Rumi's heritage such as Bibliotherapy and Sema (Dervish dance) as therapeutic methods both in group and individual therapy. Moreover, the paper provides a brief analysis of the seminal works by modern Turkish psychologists who use Sufi poem Masnavi and other texts by Rumi in therapy. As a conclusion, the article states that this approach can also be applied in Russian realities and is of interest to the modern Psychology in Russia for a number of reasons, including the growing interest in Sufi sm in the world; the presence of Sufi communities in Russia, which are actively developing, especially in the Caucasus region; active spread of Islamic Psychology in the world. There is little information on this topic in Russian, most of the papers are published in the Turkish language. Thus, studying the problem within this language will make it possible to fi ll the gaps in this area of research.

Where Do All These Ideas Come From? Kant on the Formation of Concepts Under the Guidance of Pure Reason

Abstract It is not just rationalist metaphysics, but also Kant’s transcendental philosophy that is teeming with a priori concepts. According to Kant, some of these a priori concepts are “ideas,” and similar to the categories, some of these ideas in turn belong to the nature of human reason, while others can be derived from them. It is therefore part of Kant’s claim in the “Transcendental Dialectic” to be able to explain not only the leading ideas of rational psychology, cosmology, and theology as natural concepts of reason, but the origin of the entire a priori vocabulary of the metaphysica specialis as well. This article outlines how Kant’s derivations of these concepts work. After explaining Kant’s classification of a priori concepts and the derivation of the transcendental ideas, his derivations are explored in more detail using the example of the concepts of the pure doctrine of the soul. This contributes to a better understanding of Kant’s theory of philosophical concepts while also shedding light on the rather rarely treated topic of the “Transcendental Dialectic.”

Freedom, differentialism and the partnership method: the progressive education of Norman MacMunn

ABSTRACT This article has as its focus the life and thinking of the practitioner and theorist Norman MacMunn (1877–1925), whose experimental work in a number of schools outlined a new conception of freedom and one that drew initially upon the thinking and practice of Maria Montessori. It explores how MacMunn used these new psychological ideas to develop innovatory practice, which included techniques he christened ‘differentialism’ and ‘the partnership method’. The relationship of these to future educational developments is explored. The article also examines MacMunn’s later work, which began to broaden his thinking into a wider theory of human relations, and which stemmed from taking charge of his own school as well as his disillusion with the First World War. It situates MacMunn within the broader development of progressivism and makes the case for him as being an important figure in the emergence of progressive thinking.

Learning Motivation in Educational Psychology: A Comparative Study between General Educational Psychology and Islamic Educational Psychology

This article tries to uncover and unravel the essence of learning motivation from two different perspectives or starting points, namely General Educational Psychology and Islamic Educational Psychology. The purpose of writing this article is to describe the similarities and differences between these two educational psychology ideas when explaining one of the core discussions in them, that is learning motivation by comparing the both (comparison). The research method used is library research, have as a source from books and scientific journals that have a relation in this research, while the type or substancial of writing this article is descriptive comparative. The results of the main findings are that there are differences between general educational psychology and Islamic educational psychology, where western theories are only worldly and short-term, while in Islamic thoughts they are more ukhrawi or to life after death. Although both of them think that motivation has a very important role in the world of education.
 Keywords: Learning Motivation, Educational Psychology, Islamic Educational Psychology

The “Word” and “Deed”: Toward a History of the Academic Relationship Between Aleksei Leont’ev and Lev Vygotskii

ABSTRACT The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the academic relationship between two leading Russian psychologists, Aleksei Leont’ev and Lev Vygotskii. The initial relationship between the teacher (Vygotskii) and the attentive student and follower (Leont’ev) changed, such that the two scholars eventually sought to differentiate themselves from each other and to seek out and defend their own approaches. The author describes how the psychological ideas of these two scholars changed over time. The two scholars pursued different approaches to the problem of activity and personality over their careers. The article devotes particular attention to the academic work of Leont’ev, which was produced under socialism and thus was subjected to certain ideological pressures. Leont’ev, the founder of activity theory, came to realize that personality needed to be studied across its moral and value dimensions despite working in an environment that frowned upon this approach. Other Soviet scholars gave no place for moral principles, since a person was equated to being a “product.” By citing specific works by Leont’ev, the author shows how the ideas of the “leader of Marxist psychology” evolved and sheds light on the internal context of his scientific investigations. We see that he eventually resolved a question of fundamental disagreement with Vygotskii concerning the problem of experiences and activity. During the last years of his life, Aleksei Leont’ev approached the late Vygotskii in his views, taking the side of his teacher, old friend and, at the same time, main internal opponent, which is not all that uncommon a phenomenon in academic circles. This can be seen by the fact that two years before his death (in 1977), Leont’ev actually resolved a fundamental disagreement he had with Vygotskii concerning the problem of experiences and activity.

Writing subjectivity without subjecthood: the machinic unconscious of Nathalie Sarraute’s Tropisms

ABSTRACT In the context of endeavors within social and cultural geography to conceive new models of subjectivity outside the classical model of the subject, this paper explores the possibility of a writing of subjectivity outside of the anthropocentric grammars that centralize the human subject as the locus of thought and action. To do so, we turn to the literary work Tropisms by French author Nathalie Sarraute for its expression of unconscious and impersonal ‘micromovements’ that evoke a mode of subjectivity that is no longer that of a given human individual. Sarraute’s work, with its attentiveness to and amplification of surreptitious yet forceful events that influence how we think and how we act, its rejection of individualized psychological ideas about human experience and its experimentation with what literature can do, creates singular portraits of socio-spatial life in its unfolding and thus evokes different kinds of subjectivities – what we term a ‘subjectivity without subjecthood’. To extrapolate from Sarraute’s writing, we turn to Félix Guattari’s theorization of subjectivity through a ‘machinic’ unconscious. In doing so, we draw out three dimensions of subjectivity as portrayed in Sarraute’s work: its collective, asignifying and non-linear character.

The possible application of intelligent systems in traditional courtyard houses in Iraq

The focus on the Intelligent System (IS) in our existing types of building is a question of suitability, rather than creativity to enhance the building performance. This research explores the possible application of IS in improving the performance of courtyard houses in Baghdad, Iraq by answering the research two questions which are Q1: What does the traditional courtyard house (TCH) contain that should enhanced its performance? Q2: How (IS) could be added to the TCH in Iraq? The investigation which was done through literature review of courtyard houses type as seen beside intelligent building is supported by case studies investigation 12 (TCH) in Al-Kadhimiya through physical survey, observation, and documentation, in addition to 24 semi structure interviews with occupants of the same houses, and then using the qualitative method to analyse the data collection. The key findings highlight the need for adding new systems and architectural values to such TCH which is the basis of adding intelligence systems in such houses to enhance their performance. This could be improving the partial control of the environment related to structure and materials; decreasing the environmental challenges related to the ease of making modifications, the role of government regulations, and modernization requirements. Minimizing social struggles related to the idea of place psychology. Therefore, the current study concludes that the TCH could be as a contender of IS to enhance its performance through retrofit of such houses that contain high architectural value and re-build these houses with low architectural value and slum structure.

Correction de quelques erreurs dans les editions scientifiques de L’Histoire hiéroglyphique (1705) par Dimitrie Cantemir. L’edition Panaitescu-Verdeş (1965)

"Correction of some errors in the scientific editions of The Hieroglyphic History (1705) by Dimitrie Cantemir. The Panaitescu-Verdeş edition (1965). The Hieroglyphic History, written by Dimitrie Cantemir in 1705, is considered the first Romanian (historical) novel. Beyond the veil of allegory, the exotic topos and animal-related fantasy, the historical events between 1685-1705 are revealed through characteristic deciphering, which can represent valuable data for a historian. The work, first published in 1883, then in 1927 and 1957 in a few non-scientific editions, was finally republished in 1965 in a scientific edition elaborated by P.P. Panaitescu and Ion Verdeş. This particular 1965 edition is of very high historical value, but it also has a number of lacunae, especially in the field of theology. The editors don't reference certain biblical quotes, they hint at certain psychological ideas when mentioning quotes that are clearly extracted from the Bible, they ignore the biblical source, which was the very foundation of Cantemir's maxims, they overlook the study of certain toponyms with biblical origins (Euphrates, Tarshish, Babylon etc.) and don't realize that some of his ideas are of biblical origin (for example: the cyclical evolution of things, free will). Furthermore, they don't distinguish certain elements of Christian iconography from their biblical counterparts, leading to confusion (according to the editors, Saint Veronica's Veil is attributed to Magdalene!). For all this, attention, thoroughness, knowledge of biblical sources and familiarity with Romanian and European biblical tradition are required. An edition of The Hieroglyphic History which envelopes historical, philological, but also theological and, last but not least, philosophical notes and commentaries is expected in the future. Keywords: Dimitrie Cantemir, The Hieroglyphic History, Panaitescu, Verdeş, theology, cyclical evolution, Menander, The Apostle Paul, Saint Veronica’s Veil "

Tribute to E. J. Capaldi: Celebration of a Psychological Scientist

Abstract E. J. (John) Capaldi (1928–2020) made numerous contributions to experimental psychology in his long career at the University of Texas at Austin and Purdue University. He was a pioneer in the area of animal learning and cognition, known for his sequential theory of partial reinforcement extinction effects. His research in this area and in memory and counting phenomena was conducted for the most part with rats running in straight alley mazes under various sequences of trial outcomes (e.g., reward, nonreward, variations in reward size). John's other interests included the sequential theory applied to Pavlovian conditioning, evolutionary theory, and psychology of science. More generally, John was a scientist to the core who served as a role model to those who knew him. His career centered on the values of science and rigorous critical thinking based in empirical data, coupled with a curiosity and openness to different and new ideas in psychology.

Can Mental Tricks Effect Social Change?

Can Mental Tricks Effect Social Change?

Prosocial behavior in children

This article addresses the issue of prosocial behavior - behavior that aims to benefit others and does not involve mutual help and benefits for oneself. The article is based on the theoretical ideas of psychology about the determinism of personality through its social relations and self-determination of personality, as a result of its active life position. At the same time, some researches are described regarding the prosocial behavior of children, some mechanisms and factors that are the basis of prosocial behavior are described, some strategies that contribute to the formation of such behavior are presente

Autohtona islamska psihologija u bosanskom kontekstu / Indigenous Islamic Psychology in Bosnian Context

The idea of Islamic psychology in its different meanings has been present for years in scientific and academic circles of the East and the West. With the increasing presence of postmodern ideas in today science and aspirations of the former colonies for cultural and scientific emancipation from their Western colonizers, this syntagm during last decades has more and more assumed a meaning of indigenous scientific paradigm in contemporary psychology that is rooted in Islamic teaching about man. The main aim of this paper is to determine as to what extent and in which manner Muslim authors in Bosnia and Herzegovina have discussed this theme. Our analysis of relevant literature has shown that the topic of indigenous Islamic perspective in psychology has been present in local Muslim theological and Sufi circles since ever. Focused reconsideration of modern psychological theory and practice in the light of basic premises of Islamic anthropology, however, goes back to 1990ies and has mostly been an expression of independent and uncoordinated efforts on the part of local enthusiasts, Islamic institutions of higher learning and a number of NGOs. Their achievements in this regard could be generally traced in traditional Sufi works, recent spiritual and psychological thought of Muslim theologians, scientific analysis of Muslim psychologists and translations of relevant foreign literature. Altogether, they mostly aim to explicate building blocks of Islamic paradigm in psychology and understanding of human personality, to elaborate possible models of integrating Islamic spiritual and psychological concepts or spiritual exercises in psychotherapeutic practice, and to expose Sufi thought and understanding of spiritual upbringing as well as psychological heritage of early Muslim scholars. A limited number of comparative psychology works bears methodological features of the Islamic Filter, Islamic Psychology and Comparative Approaches (Kaplick and Skinner, 2017) but never ones of Multilevel Interdisciplinary Paradigm (Al-Karam, 2018).

Two versions of Marxist concrete psychology: Politzer and Mérei compared.

This article will compare the life and work of two Marxist psychologists of the midtwentieth century, George Politzer (1903-1942) and Ferenc Mérei (1909-1986). Both were Hungarian Jews who were educated at the French Sorbonne. They were both involved in covert activities related to the French Communist movement in the 1920 and 1930s. As young communist intellectuals, they combined Marxist ideology with the need to elaborate a new psychology. I present their work as an alternative to better known versions of Marxist psychology, namely, Freudo-Marxism and Soviet action theories. Unlike these theories, Politzer and Mérei created a partly empirical, partly theoretical psychological oeuvre that operationalized the ideas of a concrete dramatic psychology anchored in the actual social life of humans. Politzer and Mérei shared desire for a psychology that is rooted in dynamics, changes, and interactions-a psychology that is rooted in the human drama, rather than in abstractions of academic laboratory psychology, and in the static topography of Freud. For Politzer, the critique of traditional psychology was mainly conceptual. Mérei looked for concrete psychology in data from field work in social psychology and from applied clinical research. The work of Mérei provided an empirical, concrete psychology, which eventually led to an influx of many new psychologists within the field in Hungary. Politzer's contributions, in contrast, remained largely conceptual and philosophical. The main message of their work is that it is an almost impossible task to combine a Marxist-Communist engagement with a commitment toward traditional civic values of enlightenment and rationality. The combination of social-political commitment and an analysis of concrete human interactions remained a formal combination, rather than a real synthesis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).